Brunch, Part 3 - Splurge Edition

It is time once again to talk about that cherished New York past time - brunch. (Click here for brunch post numero uno and here for la deuxieme. Also, feel free to be impressed by my foreign language skills in that last sentence). Today's theme is splurging. Now, you can certainly leave the following two restaurants having paid a reasonable amount, but you will most likely walk away thinking, "What did I just do?" The sizable entrees are sufficient to get you through the day, but odds are you won't stop there. Hey, when brunch sirens call, (snacks, baked goods, sides, desserts, and cocktails), nobody blames you for giving in to temptation. Well, maybe some people do, but I would never. [Insert high-five here].

1) Cookshop - 156 10th Avenue, at the corner of West 20th Street

Cookshop feels both industrial and warm. What appears to be a polished cement floor is topped with wood tables sporting white surfaces and straight-backed chairs. This, along with a metal encased light hanging over the bar area, gives the room a modern edge. The cranberry banquettes, wall-mounted chalkboard, and potted plants (not to mention the tree in the center of the room) soften that edge. Then there are the impressive floor-to-ceiling windows that serve as the barrier to both 10th Avenue and West 20th Street - if the coffee doesn't wake you up, all that natural light certainly will.

So what do we have here? Pancakes and egg dishes (Cookshop Scramble, I adore your over sized biscuit, your silken eggs with creme fraiche and caramelized onions, and the option of smoked salmon) will run you $12-$15. However, you might want to start your meal with a snack ($5-$11). Say, deviled eggs or sunchoke soup? But you also like the sound of those baked goods - pecan sticky buns, banana bread, a currant scone. Mayhaps a bakery basket for $12? How about sides ($3-$6)? The white cheddar grits are too good to pass up. Will you have room for dessert ($7-$9)? For a coffee cream donut, you make room. You haven't forgotten about cocktails though, and at this point, what's another $12? After a potent strawberry caipirinha, you probably won't mind at all.

When can you indulge? According to the restaurant's website, brunch is available Saturday and Sunday from 11am until 3pm. Walk-ins are welcome, but you'll be better off making a reservation beforehand. Here's a helpful hint, friends - if you have an opentable account, you can make a reservation mere minutes before heading over (provided they still have room). When you arrive, you'll find patrons waiting for a table at which they could have already been sitting if they had just gone online first. Suckers.

2) Freemans - End of Freeman Alley off Rivington Street, between Bowery & Chrystie Street

First off, Freemans is in a unique location on the Lower East Side. With no real address, you find it by first going to Rivington Street between Bowery and Chrystie Street. When you come to an alley about halfway down the block, turn into it and walk to the end. This will lead you to a country style, wood-and-glass door beneath a web of strung-up lightbulbs. It's hard not to feel like you're in on a secret here, and depending on your mood, it can all feel a little magical. Once inside, however, it's all hipsters and taxidermy - but in a good way.

Sitting next to plaid button-downs and Keds while under stuffed geese and antlers, it's time to get down to business. Main dishes include frittatas and sandwiches, pancakes and waffles, which come in at a reasonable $10-$14. You know you're not going to stop there, though. First off, there are Devils on Horseback ($6) and salad options ($10-11), but I'm personally going to order the hot artichoke dip with crisp bread ($10). It is so good that if it wasn't such a waste, I'd want to rub it all over myself - especially after it cools down. (Awkward pause). Brunch may not be complete without a side of thick-cut bacon ($4) or stone-ground cheddar cheese grits ($5), but what about dessert? Don't mind if I do. I'll order the hot chocolate brownie, while you get the bananas foster with rum butterscotch sauce (both $9). We'll wash it all down with Stumptown coffee, and, sure, let's get finely crafted cocktails. They're $12 unless you go for something straight up off the extensive liquor list. I like to mask my mid-day booze with juice and various accoutrements, but to each his own (and other cliches).

According to their website, Freemans is open for brunch on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 10am until 4pm. They only accept reservations for parties of six or more, so if you can't wrangle that many reliable dining partners, your best bet is to walk in with a small group and be prepared to wait. Parties will not be seated until all are present, so tell that one friend who's always late an earlier time than need be, or just cut him out of the equation altogether. Sounds harsh, but there's excessive dining to be done, and that artichoke dip waits for no man.

Tia Pol

Allow me to take you on a guided tour of Tia Pol, an authentic tapas restaurant worth the hike this far west in Chelsea. I'll ask that you please proceed single-file and keep large purses tucked by your sides, as we will be navigating through narrow quarters. In the off-chance you disturb a patron, he may growl but would be unlikely to strike. If, however, you obstruct his path to the pinchos morunos (juicy, tasty lamb skewers), we here at Fresh Pepper will not be held responsible for the carnage.

Right then. On your left you'll find the wood and marble bar. Here, you may order beer on tap, wine from the all-Spanish list, or an entire meal comprised of small plates (sandwiches are available at lunch, and egg dishes make the menu at brunch - more on the food when we reach the back room. Please hold your questions until then). Perch on one of the mismatched stools, and be sure to check out the daily specials scrawled on the chalkboard. You may enjoy a welcomed breeze in warm weather, as the entire glass front of the establishment can be opened to the sidewalk. In colder weather, people waiting for seats will cram in this area behind you along the brick wall and will mentally will you to eat faster.

As we come to the end of the bar, you will take note of the raised tables to the left. You sit on the high bench along the wall or on one of the backless stools while enjoying your meal in this area. That banging you hear is the bartender brewing fresh espresso. You will either get used to it, drown it out with your own chatter, or know to ask for another table next time.

Alright folks, a few more steps further into the restaurant brings us to...(drumroll for no reason)...this section. Here we find more small tables and stools to the right, perfect for serious heart-to-heart conversations as you dine face-to-face with your mother, brother, lover, significant other, or, you know, buddy. To the left is the kitchen. Peer through the opening in the wall to catch a glimpse of hard-workers working hard.

Anyone who needs the restroom will take this opportunity to go now. It is through this door on the left, and you will find it to be surprisingly spacious and delightfully clean. Everyone else will kindly direct their attention to the alcove where larger parties can be accommodated more comfortably than at the options up front.

Now, if we are all ready, please follow me into the back room, and be sure to mind the step. Here, there is plenty of seating for everyone at the several long tables, which are sometimes used communally for multiple parties when the restaurant is at its busiest. Settle in on the chairs with backs, because I am about to let you in on a little secret (which actually isn't a secret at all, but sometimes I like to be dramatic for no reason, as you may have noticed from that earlier drumroll): The food at Tia Pol is great.

Sometimes the food at tapas restaurants has a commercial feel to it. They offer croquetas which may or may not have come from a box, patatas bravas, a tortilla with egg, potato, and onion, and then there is usually a bowl of mixed olives and/or almonds. Now, that is all well and good (and offered at Tia Pol too), but thankfully Tia Pol realizes there is more to Spanish cuisine than that. Here you will find sweet peppers filled with potato salad and topped with imported white tuna (piquillos rellenos de ensaladilla rusa), a fava bean puree with beyos cheese on toasted bread (montadito de crema de habitas con beyos), razor clams and cockles (navajas y almejas), chorizo finished with sherry (chorizo al jerez), and unexpectedly addictive fried chickpeas (garbanzos fritos). Soups, salads, cheese plates, and cured meats make the menu too, as does a selection of desserts that cover more ground than just the expected flan. It is also wise to pay attention to the daily specials, as this is where you may find gems like flash fried peppers with sea salt and indulgent bone marrow toast.

Lunch is when the menu is more limited but includes sandwiches of crispy squid, serrano ham, pork loin, and chorizo with chocolate. Yep, chocolate. Lunch is available Tuesday through Friday from noon until 3:00pm. The weekends are the time for brunch (11:00am until 3:00pm) when chocolate couples with churros, serrano ham pairs with watercress and a poached egg, and a croissant is warmed a la plancha and served with orange marmalade and sweet cadi butter. Is it wrong that I could maybe eat that butter straight with a spoon? Probably. Not to worry, new friends, I won't. Probably.

Now that we have reached the awkward butter-confession portion of the tour, it is time for us to part ways. Be sure to make a reservation for your next meal at Tia Pol, as you have surely observed seats are fairly limited and customers are not. Come back with that scruffy professional before catching a show at the nearby UCB Theater, on date night with your girlfriend of four years, or by yourself when you are craving juicy, tasty lamb skewers so badly, you could physically harm anyone who obstructs your path to them.

Tia Pol - 205 10th Avenue, between West 22nd & West 23rd Streets

Le Grainne Cafe

Bonjour mes amis! Aujourd'hui nous parlerons d'un restaurant francais. Pamplemousse ananas framboise. Which translates to: Hello friends! Today we're going to talk about a French restaurant. Grapefruit pineapple raspberry. (Sure, those last three words are nonsensical here, but they were fun to say).

Said restaurant, Le Grainne Cafe, is a casual, bustling spot on the northwest corner of 21st and 9th. It is one open room filled with tables, tables, an open kitchen, and tables. Upon entering through the glass and nicked wood door, one has the inclination to maneuver past the table in the doorway, over to the right, where there's enough room by the hostess stand to get in every waiter/waitress' path and accidentally bump the diner's chair at that corner table in the window. Thankfully, the hostess hustles you to a seat promptly, so the next party can squeeze in and jostle each other in their attempt to get out of everyone's way.

In true Manhattan and Parisian form, the tables are close to one another so as to fit as many patrons as possible. This means sitting close to strangers on the wood banquette near the window to the left or on wood and plastic woven chairs at paper-covered tables stretching down the center of the room to the back wall.

Yeah, it's a tight fit, but that does not mean Le Grainne Cafe is without its charms. For starters, little chalkboards advertising sweets lean against the painted pressed-tin walls. Decorative roosters (a symbol of France - check out the crest on the National Team soccer kit) perch in windowsills. Old school posters are classic nods to a land where museums line the Seine, the Cote d'Azur sparkles at sunrise, coffee is strong, swimsuits are small, and most sandwiches are smeared with butter. France. I'm talking about France.

Some sandwiches get the butter treatment here as well (saucisson beurre and jambon beurre to name two). Other French dishes include the croque monsieur (toasted ham and cheese), moules (various preparations of mussels), crepes (both savory and sweet), escargots (in their shells, Pretty Woman style), and onion soup, bien sur. A variety of salads, sandwiches on toasted baguettes speared by a sprig of rosemary, quiches, and side dishes (ratatouille, anyone?) are offered, as are some entrees that stray from the expected options - fettucini carbonara, various risotto dishes, and linguini with spicy shrimp to name a few. Classic desserts (including tarte tatin, mousse au chocolat, and creme brulee) are to be enjoyed as you linger over your cafe au lait, cintron chaud (fresh squeezed lemon, honey and hot water), or rhum lait chaud (spiced rum, milk and honey). Le Grainne Cafe also provides a full wine list, fruit juices, sodas, and label-free bottles of tap water.

Le Grainne Cafe is one of those great neighborhood spots, where you know you'll be satisfied for breakfast (when croissants and egg options are available), lunch, or dinner when you just can't think of anywhere else you would rather go that day. Proximate to Chelsea Piers, the Highline, and the art galleries tucked all around the area, it draws those from beyond the Chelsea borders as well. Need a quick bite after success at the driving range? Want an espresso to energize you for that elevated park stroll? Feel you deserve a nutella crepe after staring at who-knows-what by who-knows-who to express are-you-kidding? C'est le cafe pour vous! Pomme de terre bibliotheque singe. (This is the cafe for you! Potato library monkey).

Le Grainne Cafe - 183 9th Avenue, at the corner of West 21st Street

The Grey Dog

There is a cafe in Manhattan that looks like it belongs just off the water in Seattle. Confession: I've never been to Seattle, so maybe that last sentence was 100% false. It's just that there's a quaintness to The Grey Dog, which I'm associating with harbors and seaside towns, with friendly dispositions, and with a solid cup o' joe. Rumor has it Seattle boasts these qualities - thanks to The Grey Dog's three Manhattan locations, New York does too.

The Grey Dog is a casual eatery with hearty sandwiches, salads, soups, desserts, and more. The sandwiches are made with thick cut bread and served with potato chips and pickles, the salads are portioned generously, the soups vary daily, the desserts are enormous, and the "more" includes many breakfast items, burgers, quesadillas, and fish tacos. Beverages include myriad coffee and tea options, juice, soft drinks, smoothies, beer, and wine. They even offer happy hour specials, which surprises me for no valid reason whenever I see the sign. Mayhaps it's just that I like their coffee so much, I can't fathom opting for reasonably priced booze instead? The world may never know.

So here's the rundown on how The Grey Dog works: You walk in. You stand on line at the counter. You ever-so-subtly pump your booty to the Otis Redding playing overhead. You read the menu on the back wall. You order from the super friendly person at the counter who prepares your drink and dessert order, takes your name, and rings you up at the register. You pay. You pick up silverware, napkins, and condiments from the hutch on the side of the room. You find a seat. If you struggle with that last bit, someone who works there may assist you. You sit. You scroll through your cell. You take a sip of your drink and glance at the pictures on the wall (photos at the Carmine location; comics in Chelsea). You hear your name called. You wave to the guy walking around with your entree and that lost puppy look. You smile at each other and say "Thank you." You eat. You enjoy.

The Grey Dog (also known as "The Grey Dog's Coffee") has three locations, but all offer the same quality food and service. Speaking of that service, it is laid-back to the point it is sometimes slow. However, when you are ordering at the counter and seeing how much individual attention each customer is given, you understand. and hopefully forgive.

All three locations have the same general look and feel - weathered wood, makeshift signs, exposed brick, knickknacks, and colorful tabletops (some with pictures of boats, some with maps, some with dogs - all cute). The difference between the three locations is size - Carmine Street is the smallest, University Place is somewhat larger, and Chelsea is the biggest.

Now, whether this is really the look and feel of Seattle is your call. Considering some of the menu items are designated "Michigan Sandwiches," maybe it's more reminiscent of that part of the country. I wouldn't know, as I haven't been there either. What I can say with absolute certainty, however, is that I like it.

The Grey Dog's Coffee - 33 Carmine Street, between Bedford & Bleecker Streets
The Grey Dog's Coffee - 90 University Place, between East 11th & East 12th Streets
The Grey Dog Chelsea - 242 West 16th Street, between 7th & 8th Avenues